


Mark's congressional space medal of honor

by Nyena



Category: The Martian (2015), The Martian - All Media Types, The Martian - Andy Weir
Genre: Mark's parents - Freeform, hand wavey medical stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:40:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29531400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyena/pseuds/Nyena
Summary: The president visits Mark in the hospital and offers him something pretty cool.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

Mark laid in his hospital bed looking at the spinning ceiling and tried to ignore the feeling that he was being crushed from all sides which he reminded himself he quite literally was. As for the spinning he wasn’t sure why his gravity sickness hadn’t worn off yet and neither were his doctors. Every other time he’d come back to earth it had worn off in a few hours or a day but he’d been back on earth for quite a while and was still super dizzy so when he’d collapsed in quarantine his doctors had decided to go ahead and risk Mars cooties in favor of closer observation which is why he was in the hospital and not being let out of quarantine like a normal Ares astronaut which pissed him off. If he had only had to go through a normal post Ares mission quarantine he’d already be out but he was looking at another week or two in the hospital at minimum and his doctors said even longer if his gravity sickness didn’t wear off soon. He’d objected and was ready to get out of here but then he’d realized just how much better he felt every time they came in and gave him the good stuff and decided that it was okay if he had to stay here a little while longer. He’d rebroken his ribs on reentry thanks to normal space induced osteoporosis so he was in a fair amount of pain. Not that he let on but the pain meds were appreciated. Normally the osteoporosis wasn’t that severe but hey being stuck in lower gravity for a year without access to the proper workout equipment to counteract it well... he was just grateful for the pain and anti nausea meds he was on.  
Mark was alone for the moment because his parents had stepped out to go and get some real food instead of hospital food and they weren't sadistic enough to bring it back and eat in front him when he was still on a strict diet and boy was it strict. He even had to log everything he ate and when he had eaten it. It had taken some convincing to get his parents to leave but when he assured them that he would be asleep most of the time they would be gone they gave up and left. A person could only take so much hospital food. He was grateful to have them in his room with him but he was also grateful to have a break from his moms constantly holding his hand or running her fingers through his hair. He understood it was her way of reassuring herself he was really back and alive but it got a little annoying. He couldn’t just ask her to stop either because he owed it to her. It was his way of saying sorry you had to go through all of that and sorry it was me who put you through it and if he kind of liked it well, she didn’t need to know.  
Right now Mark was debating sitting up and trying to get a glass of water by himself. It seemed like a simple task but the fact that he had dropped his last three glasses expecting them to float proved that it wasn't and sitting up by himself was pretty damn hard. Mark was ripped from his cursing of earth's gravity by a knock on the door. Good his ribs were starting to act up and he could really use some more of whatever the hell it was that they doped him up on. It took a shit ton of effort but Mark was able to prop himself up on his elbow. He was hoping to see Dave, his favorite nurse. Dave was easily Mark’s favorite because not only was he hilarious but he wasn’t patronizing and he encouraged Mark to do stuff by himself. He would even slip Mark some extra juice when the doctors weren't looking and also brought him ice chips on a pretty constant basis. Mark was pretty sure he cleared it with his doctors first and logged it but hey it was the effort that counted and he tried harder than the other nurses to get it to him. Dave also had this creepy power of knowing just when he wanted something. Yeah, he was definitely Mark's favorite; he needed to remember to thank him. Maybe he would send him with an autograph or two for his kids. That's what famous people did, right?   
Mark knew that if he got back to earth he would be somewhat famous but after spending a few minutes online paired with a google search of his name and holy shit. Right up until launch he was still freaked and creeped out about the fact that he was even famous enough to have a Wikipedia page but now even just typing in the letters ma brought up his name as the first search suggestion. There was everything fanclubs, shirts you name it and all of his videos from the ISS and Hermes had billions of views and comments. He hadn’t had the guts to check his personal or the Ares 3 twitter yet but he bet it was full of messages that would make him cry. Yeah he did that now he cried. A lot. As side effects go it wasn’t that bad he’d take being a cryer over being left on mars any day. All of these thoughts went flying out of his head when he saw that it wasn’t Dave who was knocking on the door. He hadn’t seen his picture in 3 years but he was pretty sure that was President Bailie. Mark hadn’t been able to vote in the last election but he would have voted for Bailie if he could have and was glad when NASA told Hermes he’d been reelected. He was a good guy. He had even sent Mark some emails before he murdered pathfinder.  
“Sorry for dropping in on you unannounced son but I’ve asked to be kept in the loop of your situation since day one and when they called my office and said you were in the clear to start receiving visitors other than family well, I couldn’t resist coming by and welcoming you back. I even canceled some meetings but this is about you, how are you feeling son?” Mark was speechless. What did you say to that? Mark started the difficult task of getting into a sitting position as he responded. “Honestly sir? I feel like shit. I feel like I have a million elephants sitting on my chest and I rebroke my ribs on reentry so that's fun and I’m still not over gravity sickness “ President Bailie frowned and noticed that Mark was trying to sit up  
“Mark please you don’t need to sit up” Mark grimaced as he tweaked his ribs but managed to get out a response.  
“ Oh no it’s fine I’ve been lying down for awhile and...hang on I’ll finish that thought once the room stops spinning. Damn gravity sickness” He must have looked pretty green because Mark noticed the President looking around the room for something that Mark could throw up in. He eventually found a small container and offered it to Mark who gladly took it, just in case.

“Thank you,” Mark said as he set the bowl in his lap and focused on a set spot on the wall, willing it to stop spinning. “Sorry I honestly don’t know why it’s so bad this time. On my last ISS tour when I got back my inner ear adjusted right away. Same when I got up to Hermes” President Bailie pulled up a chair and took a seat as he responded.  
“It’s okay take all the time you need. What exactly is gravity sickness ?” Mark, relieved that the spinning was slowing down, shifted his attention to answering the question.  
“Basically a fancy word for getting motion sick just sounds cooler. It’s when the fluid in your middle ear and your brain can’t understand your surroundings like what’s up and what's down.” President Bailie laughed at Mark's explanation.  
“Wow, I hadn’t thought about that applying to space flight before.”  
“Yeah” Mark groand “It sucks I can’t wait until it stops. They say if it doesn’t stop soon I have to stay until it does.” The President nodded in understanding  
“Are they going to keep you here for much longer?” Mark sighed and rolled his eyes  
“Another week at least and that's if I” Mark held up his fingers and formed air quotes as he spoke “quote improve as expected and don’t backslide”  
President Bailie smiled and nodded “You’ll be back home in no time just you watch” Mark laughed.  
“Yeah but where that will be I have no idea. I don’t have an apartment anymore so I guess I’ll be going back to Chicago and living with my parents for a while. Nothing like being in your 30’s and living with your parents.” That got a genuine laugh out of the President.  
“Well son.” the President smiled. “I’d say you have a pretty good excuse.” It was Marks turn to laugh now  
“Yeah ,I guess I do.” President Bailey Shifted in his seat before he spoke  
“I’d say the best excuse in the world” Had the President just purposely set him up for a space joke? Well even if he hadn't, Mark felt obligated to finish the joke terrible or not.  
“Or the best excuse out of this world” The President chuckled and rolled his eyes. “What have you been up to while you’ve been stuck in here?” Mark laughed  
“Nothing really. Watching tv and catching up you know. They’re going to start me one the parallel bars so that’ll be fun but they let me have carbonation the other day. That was a hell of an experience that I can only explain as painful. Ever gone almost 3 years without carbonation and then tried it again? Not fun.” The President let out a loud real laugh at Mark’s comment before replying.  
“I can’t say that I have. Must have been quite the experience. Do you have any idea what you’re going to do when you finally do get out of here?”  
“I’m not sure” Mark replied, still in shock from the laugh he’d gotten from the President. He’d spent months on the Hermes with the crew on the way back but the fact that his comments instantly got laughs or other reactions still shocked him a bit.  
“I have a million and one job offers to sort through but I want to stay with NASA. I’m never going to fly again but I just don’t think I could leave.”  
“Well” the President said “You can take the boy out of space but you can’t take the space out of the boy”  
Mark leaned further back into his pillows as he formed his response  
“It’s weird but I just can’t see myself doing anything else. People will want me to write a book and papers. I’m sure I’ll write some academic papers on my research, outcomes of my potato farm and extreme botany but NASA is just what I want to do. I’ll probably end up teaching in the ascan program or something”  
“Ascan program?” the President asked, slightly confused.  
“The astronaut candidate program” Mark supplied as he moved the bowl to the bedside table as he was starting to feel a little more steady after having settled into his new lounging position.  
“Not the nicest nickname” Mark shrugged “But hey, if you’ve made it through the program and earned the title of a full fledged astronaut then you’ve earned the right to call someone else an ascan”  
“Well you certainly have” the President responded. Mark wasn’t quite sure what he should say to that so he decided to stay quiet and let the President press forward and wait for him to say something that he could comment on and he did.  
“Mark,” The President said “That actually brings me to the real reason I came to see you today. NASA and congress have put you and the entire crew of Ares 3 forward for the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and I would be honored to present it to you and the entire crew.” Well shit, that really left Mark speechless but he had to say something he couldn’t just sit there.  
“I can’t accept that!” Mark gasped. “I just did what anyone else in my situation would have done. I just did what I needed to do to survive. It just happened to be in space.”  
President Bailey shook his head while he responded.  
“No no Mark you more than deserve this. This medal is awarded to any astronaut who has distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind. I'm quoting those requirements by the way. The medal can also be awardarded for extreme bravery during a space emergency or preventing a major space disaster. You more than meet those requirements son.” This wasn’t happening. Mark was lying in bed, in his pajamas fighting with the President of The United States over whether or not he deserved the most prestigious award given for space flight.  
“No sir, I don’t.” Mark said “People like Neil Armstrong and Jim Lovel deserve that medal. I just survived and I barely did that. I kept passing out until about three days ago and I could hardly talk after I landed. How does that benefit mankind or the nation?”  
“Mark” President Bailey said “what you did was more of a benefit to mankind and this Nation than Ares 1 and 2 combined. You proved that mankind can survive and grow crops on another planet. You more than deserve to have your name added to that list. Only 34 other people have received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor since it was first awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1969. The last group of people to receive this medal was the crew of Ares 1. I hope you’ll consider it son, It would be an honor to present the colonizer of Mars with an award to honor his work.”  
“Oh yeah” Mark remembered “I did do that didn’t I?” The president smiled and let out a little laugh before he spoke up.  
“I suppose you’ve had some other things on your mind but consider it.” The more Mark thought the more he realised that he couldn’t turn down the award. Not only would he embarrass himself by turning down the President of the United States it would be biting the hand that fed him. In order to receive this award his name had to be put forward by the administrator of NASA so if he turned it down it would be a giant fuck you to Teddy Sanders, to the man who saved him.  
“President Bailey” Mark said trying to get his mouth around what he was trying to say “ Sir, I really don’t believe that I deserve it but it would be an honor to accept it from you.” The President smiled  
“Glad to hear it son now, get some rest. President's orders.” President Bailey stood up and held out his hand for Mark to shake.  
“It would be hard for me to do anything but rest sir.” Mark said, taking the man's hand. “I’m not even sure I could walk by myself yet.”  
“You’ll get there, don't worry” President Bailey chuckled, breaking off the handshake.  
“Yeah I will, I'm not worried about that.” Mark dismissed “What I’m really worried about is my mom's reaction when she finds out that I met you in my pajamas.”  
“Well” the President smiled “I can’t really help you there. Good luck Mark get some rest I wasn’t kidding” and with that the President shook Mark's hand one more time, said goodbye and left.

After President Bailey left Mark was once again left alone to sort through his thoughts which at the moment was proving pretty difficult. How was he supposed to react to meeting the President while he was in his pajamas and hardly able to move? Well he was really wearing a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants but the concept still applied. Mark’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps outside his door, footsteps he would recognise the sound of anywhere. His parents were back from lunch. He didn’t feel like recapping his entire conversation with the President right now and the effort of sitting up and having an entire conversation really had left him exhausted. Mark didn’t feel like he could do it again so he moved back to laying down, slowed his breathing and pretended to be asleep.  
“Nice try kiddo.” Richard Watney said as he closed the door behind him and his wife “Your nurses told us you were awake and we got caught in the motorcade traffic.” Busted. Mark opened his eyes but made no effort to sit up as he responded.  
“Okay I’m awake how was lunch?”  
“It was great we only got stopped once.” Mary Watney said as she took up her post in the chair by Mark's head and started running her fingers through his hair.  
“You sweetie, need a haircut”  
“Yeah” Mark said “Commander Lewis is the best at haircuts but she’s obviously been pretty busy the last few weeks so it’s been a while”  
“Well” Mary replied switching from running her fingers through her son’s hair to twirling it around them. “You could have asked someone else like Martinez”  
“I don’t trust those assholes” Mark mumbled and there is no way in hell I’d let Martinez near my head with scissors or clippers I spent that year and a half trying to save my ass I’m not gonna throw that away by letting that asshole near my head with scissors”  
“Hmm” Mark’s mom said “What about Johanssen?”  
“No way” Mark responded. She’s the worst at hair, ever wonder why Beck wasn't in any of my videos the second month?” Mark’s mom didn’t respond to this and a comfortable silence filled the room until his dad spoke up.  
“So are we just going to ignore the fact that the President was here?”  
“Yes,” Mark said, pulling the blanket over most of his head so he could only see his mom through one eye and the rest of the room was blocked out.  
“What did you guys talk about?” his dad pressed, ignoring his son's attempts to hide under his blankets. Mark uncovered his other eye.  
“Wait how did you know he came to talk to me?” Mark asked, getting a huge eye roll out of his dad.  
“Seriously Mark, seriously?” Mark’s dad chastised. “Why else would he be here? Who else would he come to talk to?”  
“I don’t know” Mark said “The old lady upstairs?”  
“Stop being a little shit” Mark’s mom chastised while rolling her eyes  
“I’ve more than earned the right to be a little shit” Mark answered. He wasn’t getting out of this conversation, he knew when to give up. “President Bailey just stopped by to say welcome back” Mark explained as he started the process of sitting up again. “We talked about what I want to do when I finally get to leave here and then he offered me the Congressional Space Medal of Honor” Mark’s parents' eyes widened.  
“If I didn’t know any better I’d say that sounds made up” Mark's dad said pulling out his phone no doubt googling the award.  
“Well it’s not. Trust me.” Mark replied as he let his mom arrange his pillows so he could sit up better. “They’re awarding it to the entire crew it’s...” as Mark said this his head started swimming again and he was battling a new wave of nausea. He closed his eyes and took some deep breaths to combat it. After a moment he felt like he could open his eyes again and when he did he saw his mom reading from his dad’s phone mouth slightly open.  
“Well, Sweetie,” his mom said, still reading from the phone. “It looks like you’ll be needing a new suit”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark is dragged clothes shopping with his mom and finds out just how famous he is now.

Mark thought that being stranded on mars was boring but this was a million times worse. Mark watched as his mom got out of the car and gave him a stern look from the parking lot through the window. Mark stared back and crossed his arms. He wasn’t doing this, he didn’t care that his clothes didn’t fit anymore he wasn’t going to be dragged around a store clothes shopping with his mom. He had no money, no drivers license and was being dragged around shopping by his mom. He felt like he was twelve and was going to act like it damnit. His mom opened the passenger door and folded her arms still glaring at him.  
“Mark get your ass out of this car and stop being such a baby. It didn’t work then and it won't work now” Mark sighed   
“Can’t we just go home?” he whined. His mom didn’t budge and Mark knew when to give in so he dropped the act as he got out of the car but that didn’t mean he had to stop complaining.  
“I hate this. I have no money, I can’t drive and I’m being dragged around shopping. What is this? Fourth grade?” Mark’s mom laughed and rolled her eyes.  
“You complained less in fourth grade and were going to the bank tomorrow to see about reopening your account remember?” Mark stuck his hands in his pockets as they worked their way across the parking lot.   
“Yeah that sounds like a blast.” Mark said “Why do we need to do this anyway? I have plenty of clothes.”   
Mark’s mom chuckled as they entered the store.  
“Mark, a few t-shirts and two pairs of jeans that are sizes and sizes too big does not plenty of clothes make.” Mark knew his mom was right and he was getting sick of wearing the same shirts that his parents had kept or whatever he’d left in his childhood bedroom over and over again.   
“Plus” his mom continued “We’re not even going to look for a suit today, just some jeans that don’t literally fall off you. I swear you’re hardly a 26 waist these days. You can even complain about how badly all of the plants the store has out are being taken care of.” Mark smiled. Okay maybe this would be kind of fun. As they walked in Mark looked around at all of the other people in the store and was taken somewhat aback by the amount of them but got over it as they kept walking. Mark got a few double takes from people as they walked but no one picked him out. They must have thought he just had a familiar face but something told him it wouldn’t be long.   
“You like dark wash jeans still, right?.” His mom said as she walked toward the pants “What about these ones?” Mark made sounds of agreement but didn’t even look at them as he started to make his way over to the graphic t-shirts a few steps away. Mark was laughing to himself as he was drawn to a grey t-shirt that had the NASA logo on it. He was thinking about how weird it was that his eyes were instantly drawn towards the logo when he heard his name.  
“I know who you are! YOU”RE MARK WATNEY!” Mark startled a little and turned around to see a 12 year old boy looking at him in disbelief.   
“Uh yeah that’s my name.” Mark had talked to reporters but this was his first time having someone come up to him like this.   
“You went to Mars.” the boy said his eyes still wide in disbelief. Mark nodded as he thought about what to say. That was more of a statement than anything. What do you say to that?  
“I sure did” Mark said “and I almost didn’t come back.” Mark stuck his hands in his pockets and looked for his mom. He swore he’d taken two steps away from her where the hell did she go and where the hell was this kids mom?” as he was thinking this someone else ran up.  
“Connor there you are I’m so sorry...holy shit you’re Mark Watney. I knew you were from Chicago...” Mark smiled nervously before he responded.   
“People usually just call me Mark not holy shit you’re Mark Watney but yeah.”  
“You’re so cool!” the boy said showing no sign of leaving anytime soon.   
“I watched your videos before you went to Mars.” That took Mark by surprise  
“You did?” Mark asked, still taken aback. He hadn’t thought about the classrooms he’d made for a really long time. The boy’s mom who’s brain seemed to be functioning again spoke up  
“Oh yeah, Conner loves those videos. Can’t drag him away from those classrooms” The mom turned and started addressing her son. “And you passed your test on the scientific method because of Mr. Watney’s video didn’t you?” Conner nodded and took his mom’s hand. “Yup the washcloth video!” Conner said excitedly. Mark made a lot of videos and had to think for a second but then it came back.  
“Oh yeah.” Mark smiled “The one where I applied the scientific method to see what would happen when you wrung out a wet washcloth in zero gravity. That one was fun to film.” Connor smiled   
“It looked like fun!” Conner was yelling now and other people were seeing him, great. Conner kept talking though.  
“I want to be an astronaut like you. Botany seems really cool.”  
“It is.” Mark answered “It takes a lot of school though but I think it’s cool you like botany” Mark heard his name being whispered as they talked but just smiled.  
“Lots of kids are into botany because of you.” Conner’s mom explained.  
Mark didn’t know what to say to that but was saved by finally catching his mom’s eye as she came back into view.   
“Mr. Watney?” Conner’s mom asked “I know you must get this a lot but could Conner get a picture, maybe an autograph?” Mark blinked in shock as his mom came up behind him.  
“There you are Mark.” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. Hearing his mom’s voice kicked his brain back into action.  
“Uh I actually don’t get asked for pictures or autographs a lot.” Mark stammered but his mom injerected.  
“Yet, Mark. You can’t drive so you haven’t really been out and about for people to ask trust me, it’ll happen.” She turned towards Conner and his mom and kept talking.   
“Like I said NASA and his doctors won’t let him drive yet so he hasn’t left the house a lot. Just sits and writes academic research papers no one understands so he doesn’t quite get how world famous he is yet. I’m Mary Watney, Mark’s mom.”  
Mark turned towards his mom putting his hands in his pockets   
“Yeah,” Mark said as he noticed someone shamelessly pointing at him “I’m starting to get that...HEY people understand my papers! I may have a million and one of them to write but people will understand them damn it!” That got a laugh out of both of the women.   
“My friends are never going to believe that I met Mark Watney.” Conner whispered to his mom as he grabbed her arm. Connor’s mom looked down at him and smiled   
“Why don’t you ask for a picture?” she whispered back and glanced back up at Mark. Conner took a deep breath and stepped forward   
“Mr. Watney?” Conner asked “Could I get a picture?”  
“Sure” Mark shrugged. “Why not? Get over here.”   
With Mark’s approval Conner ran over and Mark crouched down to Conners level smiling for the camera. Conner was absolutely beaming and when his mom had taken the picture he wrapped Mark in a hug. “Thank you Mr. Watney!” Conner ran back over to his mom and looked up at her “He’s so cool!” Conner’s mom nodded at him then looked at Mark and smiled before she spoke. “Thank you so much you made his year. Welcome back and bye Mark bye Mary”   
After Connor and his mom waved and left, Mark thought they were in the clear but less than two minutes into a debate with his mom on whether or not it was worth the gag to buy the NASA t-shirt when he was tapped on the shoulder.   
“Mark,” his mom sighed “You have clothes from the actual NASA in your closet. You’re wearing a real NASA shirt right now”  
Mark looked down and noticed that he was wearing a NASA shirt he’d gotten forever ago on an ISS tour. “Oh I guess I am,” Mark laughed “but, that's not the point. You said yourself that they are too big. Mom you don’t get it. How funny would it be if we got this. I could say that I got it with my actual NASA paycheck. You have to....” Mark turned and saw two 16 year old girls smiling nervously at him.  
“Excuse me.” the girl closest to him said “You’re Mark Watney right?” Mark glanced at his mom who just shrugged and gave him an “I told you” look. Sighing Mark put his hands back in his pockets and turned towards the girls. “That’s what they tell me it says on my birth certificate. Well, I guess that says Marcus... but yeah I’m Mark Watney.” The girls looked at each other and let out what Mark could only describe as a quiet high pitched shriek.   
“I knew it!” the second girl yelled. “Could we get a picture?” While not as shocked as he was the first time Mark was still shocked but his brain kicked back into action faster then the first time so he was able to respond.  
“Uh sure,” Mark said. With Mark’s approval the girls ran over to him and posed for the photo and started taking selfies. After they were satisfied with the photos Mark was expecting to send the girls on their way but they just stayed until one of them spoke up again. “Thank you so much! Is it too much to ask if I could get an autograph?” Mark rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at his mom who just raised her eyebrows and shrugged again.  
“Uhh I guess” Mark stammered. The girls smiled as one of them dug through her backpack and pulled a sharpie out of her backpack and the other grabbed some of the NASA shirts in their size for him to sign. “We’ll buy them after we promise.” the girls assured as they handed him the shirts and pen. Mark took the objects from the girls and looked for a table he could write on while he responded.  
“Okay I’ll have to trust you on that. I also have to warn you guys that these are some of the first autographs I’ve signed because I haven’t really been out a ton since I got back so it’s gonna suck.” The girls laughed   
“That can’t be true,” One of them said as they both shook their heads.  
Mark finished and handed the pen and shirts back to them.  
“It is.” Mark said “I wasn’t really that famous before everything.” The girls took the shirts and beamed as they looked at them. “This is amazing Mr. Watney, thank you so much!” Mark smiled and nodded   
“No problem but I better not see those on ebay!” The girls laughed and said thank you again before they went on their way. Mark walked over to his mom keeping his head down while he walked.  
“Holy shit.” Mark whispered as he approached his mom. “You weren't kidding. Everyone knows who I am.” Mark’s mom held up a jacket trying to decide if it would fit Mark as she responded. “We tried to tell you.”   
Mark was able to keep his head down the rest of the trip and only got stopped one more time so that night he was starting to think that maybe today had just been a fluke but then he had to check twitter and see that his name was trending.

@tammyconner   
Conner got to meet his hero today and he couldn’t have been nicer! He talked with us for probably five minutes and made Conner’s year thank you so much @astroM.Watney! @ares3 #sogladwebroughthimhome 

@Katekat It’s not every day you run into @astroM.Watney He was fighting with his mom trying to get her to let him have a NASA shirt so he could say he bought it with his NASA money. He was wearing a NASA shirt from an ISS trip.... I can’t I love him so much. I would die for him. #sogladwebroughthimhome 

Both posts had the pictures he’d taken earlier and had thousands of likes and retweets with things like “He’s such a dork!” and “I can’t”   
Yeah he was famous...


	3. Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark sees his house for the first time since coming back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter should go before the shopping one...ooops

Mark twisted around in the back of his parents car. They’d had to drive from Texas because his doctors didn’t want him flying anymore then he had to, especially since he had already flown to Texas. After spending weeks in the hospital and recovery center Mark was more than ready to go home and just relax on his own for a bit without being poked and prodded six ways from Sunday. Mark had fallen asleep a few hours ago and had just woken up with no idea where they were but the sun was setting and hitting him in the face causing him to get drowsy so he closed his eyes again but what felt like a few minutes later he heard his dad speak up for the first time in a while.  
“Mary, we're getting close to the city. Do you think we should wake up Mark? Mark heard his mom turn in her seat to look at his dad as he responded “Hmm oh probably he’s been asleep for a while and would probably like to see the city.” Mark heard his mom turn in his direction and then taped him on the knee to wake him up. “Nnnntha. What?” Mark asked, startled by the unexpected touch dragging him from his half sleep. “Morning sweetie we’re about thirty minutes from home. We thought you’d want to be up.” Mark stretched as best as he could in the back of the car and looked out the window. Mark smiled as he saw all of the familiar buildings flying past. He never thought he’d see these buildings again. This was amazing. The closer and closer they got to the house the more emotional he got. Mark watched in silence as they drove past the University of Chicago. Mark was thinking about some of his favorite undergrad professors when he was shocked by a sign that was on one of the signs scattered around the different entrances to the campus it read  
“U Of C welcomes back alumni Mark Watney.” Mark shook his head to clear it and reread the sign quickly before the car passed it. Holy shit that was weird.  
“That was weird,” Mark said as he watched the college disappear behind them as they drove.  
“Yeah” His mom said as she turned to look at him “Everyone cashes in on your name these days. That’s nothing.” Mark wasn’t sure what to think about that. So he ignored it and kept looking out the window while he tried to believe that they were actually almost home. About 15 minutes later as the buildings got smaller and the city started to fade Mark saw a building that meant they were really really close to home Mark made sure not to blink as they passed the sign he knew what it said he’d seen it every day after school for years when he went to work there as a bookkeeper but he didn’t want to miss it and there it was “Watney and Gambridge Attorneys at law” Mark pointed out the window his finger smudging the glass. “IT’S DAD’S OFFICE!” That got a chuckle out of his dad.  
“Yeah you’ve got to come in one of these days kiddo everyone misses you.” Mark thought for a second “Yeah I should, least I can do after you guys did all that space pirate law shit.” Mark’s dad made a confused face and looked at his son in the rearview mirror. “Space pirate?”  
It was Mark’s turn to laugh now. He'd forgotten he hadn’t explained the pirate thing to his parents yet. “Remember before I murdered pathfinder,” Mark said, still looking out the window, “When I emailed you about laws on mars?”  
Mark’s dad concentrated while he changed lanes but responded as he did.  
“Yeah? We decided that Mars was uhhh kinda under maritime law?” Mark smiled to himself as he got ready to finish his explanation. “Well, because I lost contact with NASA no one could give me permission to take over the MAV. I was just told to get to Schiaparelli crater.” Marks dad caught on and laughed  
“So you took over a ship in international waters without permission making you a pirate.... I mean technically you...” Mark turned from the window and glared at his dad as he pointed at him. “Woah woah! Dad don’t ruin this for me!”  
“Okay okay! I’ll let you have it.” His dad assured. Mark went back to looking out the window watching the buildings race by as they got closer and closer to the house. The next building that Mark saw was his old Jr. High meaning they were only five minutes away. Five minutes away from a building that he never thought he’d see again. The closer and closer they got the more and more excited he got and before he knew it Mark’s dad was pulling into the driveway of his childhood house. As his parents opened the car doors Mark stayed in the back seat just staring at the house. This View was certainly nothing remarkable, just the garage door to a 3 floor suburban house but it was one that he’d seen after several milestones of his life, driving home from the DMV after getting his drivers license, sitting in his car smiling after his first kiss and it got him thinking. Mark was startled by his door opening.  
“You getting out of the car there kiddo?” Mark’s dad asked “I mean it’s a pretty nice car but I figured you might want to go inside.” Mark shook head and came to the present.  
“Oh yeah sorry.” Mark said as he undid his seatbelt. “I just never thought that I would see the house again and I was thinking...” Mark unfolded himself as he pulled himself out of the car. “Well, I was thinking about when you guys drove me to the airport after the farewell party so I could go into quarantine before launch and how that was the last time I saw the house and until a few weeks ago the last time I saw you guys in person and not on a screen or through a pane of clean room glass.” Mark’s dad thought for a second before he decided the best way to go was a joke. “Well besides needing a new coat of paint I think this shithole looks pretty much the same.” Mark chuckled as he walked towards his bags that his mom had gotten out of the trunk and set on the driveway. “Yeah besides you guys letting my front garden go to shit it looks great...I’m serious did you guys winterize it all...MY PERENNIALS! Mark switched from looking in horror at his front yard garden to his mom who was still by the car. “I swear this is the same stuff I planted before launch!” Mark said. “Why didn’t you pull it up or clear it some! Mom I know you know how to winterize a garden you made me and dad do it for you every year!” Mark’s mom rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. “Well, I’m sorry if I’ve had other things on my mind Mark.” Mark let out a laugh and shook his head at all of the work he had ahead of him as he turned to pick up some bags to take inside but he had hardly touched the bag when his dad yelled at him. “MARK What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Mark stopped short and stepped back from the bags as his dad pushed his way past and picked up the bags. “Uhh” Mark said confused “Helping you guys take in the bags?” Mark’s dad shifted a duffle onto his shoulder as he responded. “Yeah no. Those bags combined probably weigh as much as you do right now kiddo and until a few weeks ago you couldn’t walk. You’re supposed to be sitting on your ass or doing PT and that’s it so no.”  
Mark held his hands up in surrender as he stepped even further back from the bags.  
“Wow I thought I got away from living with bossy doctors when they took Dr. Bossy Beck away at the recovery center.”  
Mark’s dad started walking to the front door bags in hand as he responded.  
“While I can be bossy I’m no doctor but I have a strange feeling you’ll be seeing a lot of those for the rest of your life.” Mark put his hands in his pockets and followed his mom and dad to the front door. “Yeah” Mark sighed. “I can tear up that agreement that says I agree to one NASA physical a year for the rest of my life and throw it out the window. They’re never letting me go and they’re going to poke and prod me way more than once a year for the rest of my life. Small price to pay I guess.” Mark went quiet after that and watched his mom unlock the front door letting them all in. Mark crossed the threshold and took in the front room smiling as the visual and familiar smells brought back memories. Nothing had changed the couch where his parents had sat when he told them he was going to mars was the same, the books on the bookshelf were the same. Everything down to the pictures on the walls was the same and Mark loved it. Mark’s mom closed the door and turned to look at her son taking in the front room.  
“Everything in your room should be exactly the way you left it the day of the family farewell party.” Mark laughed as he thought about the party his family had thrown him a few days before he had to go into quarantine for launch. In true Watney style they had gone all out and made the entire thing as cheesy as possible making it a mishmash of all of the holidays he would be missing while he was gone. There were Fourth of July banners, jack-o-lanterns and Thanksgiving cornucopias next to a rocket ship birthday cake complete with candles that said “Happy Birthday Mark and bon voyage” The cake wasn’t the only food either there was everything from summer barbeque to Thanksgiving turkey. Mark smiled at the memory.  
“Wow I’d almost completely forgotten that party.” Mark said, turning to look at his mom. “Feels like it was a million years ago.” Mark finished that thought and turned towards his dad “I assume you would kill me if I took some of those bags upstairs to my room?” Mark’s dad nodded as he answered  
“Yup. You okay to take those stairs?” Mark sighed as he started up the stairs in question. “I’m fine!” Mark finished climbing the stairs and stood outside his room, his parents catching up to him as he slowly opened the door. As Mark opened the door he smiled. Everything was perfect.  
“I did some laundry, made your bed and aired out the room but I left everything else the same.” His mom said from the hallway as Mark walked into the room. Mark took in all of the Ares and Cubs posters surrounded by little league trophies. After taking it all in Mark turned, a huge smile on his face and wrapped his mom in a hug  
“Thank you mom.”  
"Don't thank me yet." She said "We need to go clothes shopping for clothes that will fit you and you hate that." Mark laughed and just hugged her tighter.  
"Can't wait"  
Later that night Mark was laying in bed trying to sleep and being amazed by how big his bed was when he heard his door creak open and light streamed into the room. Mark kept his eyes closed just as quickly as it had opened the door shut and Mark fell asleep. What felt only like a few minutes later but what was probably hours later the door opened again and the light entered the room waking him up. "Ok," Mark thought, "fair enough." He could let his parents check on him, they deserved it. However, the third time he couldn’t help himself. As the door creaked and the light entered Mark pulled the blanket tighter and mumbled.  
“I love you guys but if you need to keep checking on me and watching me sleep like a creep could you at least make up your mind and just stay or at least turn off the hallway light. What is it with people and watching me sleep? Beck, Lewis, mom and now you. Freaks.” Mark heard his dad shift and let out a small chuckle.  
“Okay kiddo, I’ll see you in the morning.” his dad said turning off the light in question and heading back to his own bed.  
Mark rolled over in bed and flipped his pillow over. He knew what they were doing. He'd heard Martinez talk about watching his son sleep just to make sure he was still breathing and assure himself he was okay. This was no different. The last thing that crossed Mark’s mind before he fell asleep was “I’m really lucky that I have so many people that care so much about me.”


End file.
